He is also a very keen angler, having come back to the sport in 1995 following a break of several years. In this regular column he will tell us about his progress as an angler – his thoughts about the sport, what he learns, the fishing trips he makes, the anguish, the humour, in fact everything he experiences as his angling career develops. | |||||||||||||||||
ALL AT 4’s AND 5’s Wanting to make the most of my campaign on the Shropshire tench lake, I’ve been taking full advantage of every opportunity and getting on there as much as possible – in between my trips to the lower Severn, of course! I’ve detected a very distinct feeding pattern on the venue. I’m fishing the last five hours of the day and noticed that the fish will feed towards the end of the session, usually concentrated in a spell that lasts no more than two and a half hours.
As the water temperature has been high, I’ve not been afraid to put out a fair amount of groundbait. I’ve been using brown crumb and fishmeal laced with dead maggots or casters and corn. I’ve been catapulting between twenty and thirty good size balls out about forty metres. And judging by the activity that takes place over the baited area during each session, it’s certainly accomplishing the aim of drawing in fish from around the lake. As the lake has a soft silt bottom, the use of dead maggots is a deliberate ploy. Although some live maggots are a useful addition to the mix, as their burrowing will encourage the tench to root them out, I wanted the bait to be laid out in the open, so to speak. The recently completed World Cup actually worked to my advantage, as one of my local tackle shops, Beddows’ of Wombourne had a good quality of unsold maggots left over. So when the proprietor Jill gave me a call to let me know there was a batch waiting for me, I was down there the next day, armed with plastic bags ready to load my bait freezer at home. I must give Beddows’ a mention, particularly if you live in that part of South Staffordshire and are interested in taking up carp fishing. A young lad, Lee Roberts works at the shop and he really does know his stuff. He’ll be more than happy to point you in the right direction, particularly if you’re a novice and in need of guidance. The shop is in Plank Lane, Wombourne and the telephone number is 01902 896432.
Hare-rig, then a brace Towards the end of the trip I saw what is my favourite English mammal, the hare. As it bounded along the ridge behind me, I watched its every move. (One of the advantages of fishing with buzzers is that you can take your eyes off the rod if you want to!). I don’t really know what it is, but there is just something about the hare that I find fascinating. While out fishing I’ve seen all sorts of wildlife, from badgers to foxes, fallow deer to weasels, but my favourite has to be the hare. Although I do confess that stoats and weasels run them a reasonably close second! The next session again produced a brace of tench, this time a fish of 5 lb 5 oz and 4 lb 7 oz. They may not be monsters by the standards of some of the south-east gravel pits, but they’re still nice fish for this area. Taking into account the lovely peaceful surroundings, I’ve been enjoying the late afternoon visits that I’ve made to the lake. In keeping with the consistency of two fish per session, the next two visits yielded fish of 4lb 6 oz, 3 lb 14 oz and 4 lb 10 oz and 3 lb 14 oz respectively. As this took me up to my tenth visit since the water opened on June 16 I now have a very good idea of the average size of fish that the water is producing. Boilie wasn’t selective I’ve also been using boilie on one of the rods in the latter visits and although I didn’t get any fish, even though corn was catching, I persevered knowing it would come right in the end. And it did, although it was one of the 3’s that took a fancy to my home-made fruit-flavoured bait, rather than an anticipated bigger than average fish. Still, it’s always nice when one catches on bait that you’ve made yourself. When I arrived for the final session that appears in this week’s article I had the whole lake to myself. I think that may have been due to the torrential downpours that day! Still, the overcast sky gave me an optimism that I would again get amongst the fish. But would I catch two, as I have done on each of the four previous sessions? Bubbling with confidence I was baited up by about 4.15 pm and was very encouraged to see tench bubbles over the baited area. In fact these bubbles never stopped, and when I packed up at 9.45, they were still as vigorous as ever. Now, believe me, that’s the sort of scene that every tench fisherman wants to see.
By now a very visible rainbow had appeared in the sky. In fact it hung there for what seemed like an eternity. A perfect semi-circle, with the colours so precisely placed within the arc. Truly one of our most beautiful natural phenomena, and one that I would have missed, had I not braved the elements. Even though I lost a tench at the net, I went on to land a further two fish, which weighed in at 4lb 5oz and 3lb 11oz respectively. So, after a slow start to my tench campaign I’m gradually picking up momentum. A lot has to do with the fact it’s a new water and it does take time to get to know it. But I’m hoping that by the end of August I’ll have been able to capture a nice fish or two. So far most of the fish are in the 4 – 5 lb bracket (hence the title of the article). But I would love to be able to report I’m all at 6’s and 7’s. We shall see! Tench campaign results table Tench Sessions: 11
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Next week it’s back to barbel fishing. As well as featuring the Severn , I also made my first trip of the season to the Dove. So join with me next Thursday when I tell you how I experienced ‘Go-slow on the Severn…but double time on the Dove’. The Reverend Stewart R Bloor Pilgrim’s Progress – read it every Thursday! |
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